Emotional bonds
by Creation of Hell
Summary: A little family tries to survive in the zombie apocalypse. But then only the little kid is left after her parents were killed. How can a five year old survive in such a cruel world? Not without some unexcepted help that's for sure. No pairings.
1. The loss of loved ones

_Hello and welcome! :D_

_I hope you will enjoy this story :')_

_I have to say I'm really unsure about this story. And that's not just because I have never played Left 4 Dead for myself and instead just watched Lets plays of it. *nervous laugh*_

_Just tell me if I should continue this story or not?! _

_And I apologize for any mistakes that I made (Unfortunately my main language isn't english :/). So you are free to point any mistakes out to me ;) _

_Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are_

* * *

**Emotional bonds**

**Chapter 1 _ ****The loss of loved ones**

Might as she tried the little girl couldn't sleep. Every time she heard a scream, a growl or some other noise which wasn't natural her gray-blue eyes wandered to the red door on the other end of the room.

Those noises were really bad and could get dangerous. Her parents warned her of the danger and the pain that would follow these terrible noises, so that she should stick close to her parents at all times.

With a quiet whimper she looked over to her mommy who slept on the floor while she used her dirty backpack as a pillow and held a gun loosely in one hand. She had beautiful long ginger hair that was now filthy because she couldn't take a shower for a week and she had a pair of green eyes.

Her daddy sat on one of the many boxes in this safe room and held a shotgun at the ready while he looked out for any danger. It seemed like her daddy couldn't sleep either. He had a tussled brown mob of hair on his head at which a wide white strand of hair that fell in his face catched everyone's eye instantly. Even though her daddy tried to explain that to her she didn't understand much of it. Something about a pigmentary abnormality or whatever.

"What's wrong, honey?", rang the worried voice of her daddy out who looked with tired blue eyes over to her and gestured to the five year old girl to come closer.

Slowly the little girl stood up from her resting place and walked over to her daddy who swooped her from the ground and placed her on his lap.

"Can't sleep...", muttered the five year old as she huddled against her daddy to seek some warmth and safety.

"Just try it. You will fall asleep eventually.", tried her daddy to calm her down before he put one arm around her and softly stroked her little back.

It took some time and more gentle words from her daddy before the little girl finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning the little girl woke up as someone lightly shook her and a female voice reached her ears.

"Wake up, Chiara. We have to go."

Groggily Chiara opened her big grey-blue eyes whereupon the face of her mommy greeted her who took her gently in her arms and off her daddy's lap.

"I don't want to...", complained the little girl with a big yawn while her mommy sat down and put her on her lap.

"I know, sweety." With a quiet sigh her mommy opened the two hair ties on either side of her head to run her delicate fingers through the ginger hair of the little girl that she had inherited from her mommy. After she used her own fingers as a comb she tied Chiaras's ginger hair back to two pigtails.

After a small breakfast and a check of their weapons her daddy hesitantly opened the red door and the little family left the four walls of the safe room.

The following hours were the same as any other day before. While her parents shot everything in sight Chiara stuck close to them and tried not to look at the many corpses in order to not get sick by the sight.

They were lucky that they hadn't met too many special infected on their journey and that they hadn't encountered a horde at all but once. And that time it was just a small horde.

But it seemed like their luck should run out today as Chiara accidently bumped against a car as she stumbled back in order to get away from a common who got too close to her before her daddy had shot it.

"Shit! A horde is coming!", exclaimed her mommy with panic in her voice as the loud alarm of the car sounded.

"Hurry, we have to get in a building! We are a too easy target here in the open!", yelled her daddy as he grabbed Chiara and run together with her mommy in the direction of a run-down looking house.

The little girl whimpered out of terror as she spotted the incoming horde over the shoulder of her daddy whereupon she clenched her fingers hard in the material of her daddy's shirt.

Hurriedly her daddy sprinted up the stairs and disappeared in one of the many rooms with her while her mommy stopped in the hallway and began to shoot everything that got up the stairs.

"Please, honey, stay here. Don't come out, no matter what you hear! I will come and get you.", instructed her daddy the five year old while he put her in a closet.

"But daddy...!", started Chiara but was quickly cut short from her daddy.

"No buts! You are staying here! Don't come out! Stay put until I or your mother comes back. Understood?"

"Yes daddy.", replied Chiara weakly even though she didn't want to leave either side of her parents.

"Good girl. We will be back in no time.", promised her daddy before he closed the doors of the closet and quickly left the room to assist her mommy on the hallway.

The little girl bit her own lower lip and drew her short legs to her chest so she could put her arms around them while she listened to the noise of gunshots and screaming.

Chiara couldn't tell how much time had passed but at some point the gunshots stopped and a creepy silence was all that was left.

"Mommy?! Daddy?!", called the little girl with a shaky voice while she tried to look out of the crack between the two doors of the closet.

Were all the bad people dead? Were there all gone? They had to be otherwise the gunshots wouldn't have stopped.

But the continuing silence worried the little girl. Why didn't her parents come back to pick her up? Where were they?

A quiet moan and the following narrowed sight of a common who stumbled through the doors in the room crushed all her hopes. This couldn't be! These bad people should be gone. If they weren't then her parents...

Chiara couldn't believe that. She didn't want to believe it. Her parents couldn't be dead! Her daddy promised to come back.

A loud sob left her lips as the tears started to run down her cheeks. This couldn't be...

Another moan that was much louder this time startled the little girl who quickly looked up and through the crack. Her eyes widened as she saw how the common stumbled towards her and the closet. That thing must have heard her sob. Upon this realization Chiara promptly clamped her hand over her own mouth and backed up from the doors to press her back against the wooden wall of the closet.

Her whole body started to shake as she tried to be as quiet as possible while she watched in terror and hoped that the zombie would just go away.

As the common arrived at the closet it just stared dumbly at the closed doors for a moment before it raised its two bloody arms and pounded a couple of times uselessly against the wooden surface. After it couldn't hear another sound it quickly lost interest and turned around. Slowly it left the room and roamed the hallways instead.

Relieved a big breath that Chiara had held in all the time escaped her chest as the common was finally gone. Slowly she let her hand sank from her mouth and hugged herself instead.

She wanted her mommy and daddy to be here with her. Again she drew her legs to her chest so she could hide her face between them and let the tears flow followed by quiet sobs.

It wasn't long until the little girl cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Not until a low growl reached Chiaras ears did the little girl wake up. Confused she looked around herself just to spot dimly some clothes and to realize that she was still in the closet.

Her parents were still not here. They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't...

Of the looks of it it had to be night by now and so some hours must have passed. Chiara could barely see anything in the closet because it was so dark. That frightened the little girl who didn't like the dark that much.

With a quiet whimper she grabbed the hood of her blue hoodie and pulled it over her head to feel somewhat safer. Maybe when she couldn't see the bad people then they couldn't see her as well.

A sudden growl that instantly followed her quiet whimpers startled her. She could have sworn that her heart stopped for a couple of beats before it started to beat double so fast.

Swallowing Chiara turned hesitantly slow her head while she hoped that the thing outside wasn't what she thought it was.

Her daddy had often told her that such a growl meant real danger. What had he called the thing that growled like that? He had told her that they could jump really high, that they were good climbers and would pounce on you when given the chance. They also wore hoodies.

Biting her lower lip Chiara looked out of the crack just to come face to face with one of the bad people. It looked through the crack directly at her and bared it teeth.

Chiara froze instantly up out of terror as she finally remembered the designation.

A hunter.


	2. Ghosts of the past

_Hello everyone :D_

_At first I want to say thank you for the reviews, favos and follows :) I really didn't except that much response to my fanfiction. But so it makes me just happier :')_

_Actually I wanted to just write a little bit through the perspective of the hunter before he finds Chiara. But, well~ I got caught up in writing and wrote more than I originally intended to. So now you have a whole chapter about the hunter and we didn't get any further with the story as with Chiara in the last chapter X'D_

_I hope you will still enjoy the chapter :'D_

_And I also hope that my english isn't too bad or too hard to read and to understand *lopsided smile*_

_Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are_

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**Chapter 2_Ghosts of the past**

He was startled awake as a loud noise coupled with some screams and rapid footsteps reached his ears.

Instantly he sprung up on all fours and growled a warning before he realized that there was no immediate danger around. Confused the hunter sat down on his haunches while he still somewhat sleepily looked around him.

The first thing that he noticed was that he was still in his little den that he had chosen for the day ahead which by the looks of it wasn't over yet. He couldn't help himself but to scowl at the aspect that it was still daytime.

Daytime meant persistent light which was very bad and hurt his eyes, even though he had just one of these left. So he prefered to hunt at night and to sleep during the day.

With a quiet growl he rose from his position so he could jump from the nearly destroyed coach on which he had slept on and to crawl over to one of the windows in order to see what was happening outside and what had awoken him.

In the streets below he could see many of the commons who nearly ran each other over in order to get to one specific location. Now that the hunter was more awake he noticed the high pitched noise in the distance that often originated from cars and that made the commons – or how he liked to call them, the stupid ones – to act like crazy.

But this sound also meant that some survivors were near. Such a stupid prey. Didn't they know that loud high pitched noises were bad for them and would mean death for them?

The hunter cackled lowly about this before his stomach reminded him painfully that he was really hungry and hadn't had something to eat for days.

He should rather follow the stupid ones to the alarm in order to get something to eat before the stupid ones ate all of the prey for themselves than to just sit here and to starve himself to death.

With a loud shriek he jumped out of the window that no longer had any glass left and landed on a rooftop opposite the street.

He was just glad for his dark red hoodie that protected him from the evil light.

After he pinpointed the exact direction of the origination of the high pitched noise he collected enough energy in his legs and leaped to the next rooftop.

It wasn't long until he arrived at his destination where he stopped on one of the roofs and looked down at the street with the noisy car.

Some of the stupid ones still lingered around the car even though the majority of them stormed in a run-down looking building. The hunter guessed that the prey was in this building. After quickly sniffing the air and straining his ears he could confirm his prior guess. The smell of the warm, living prey and the noise of screams and gunshots came definitely from inside that building.

Grinning the hunter crouched down to prepare for his next leap as another high pitched screech sounded near by and interrupted his intention. He instantly perked up and looked around him hoping to spot the other hunter. Another of his brethren.

But besides the curiosity and the slight uneasy feeling in his gut another emotion welled up in him. A raging anger. How dare this hunter to infiltrate his hunting grounds! No one was allowed in here. Even though his terrain was really small it was still his hunting ground. His alone!

Snarling in anger he raised his nose up in the air and began to sniff wildly. But the scent that he catched in the air prompted him to pause in his snarling and growling.

He knew that scent.

A quiet whine left his lips as he tried to remember from where and when he knew that particular scent.

Another loud screech sounded before a huge hunter landed behind him on the rooftop whereupon he hastily spun around in order to face the intruder.

He unconsciously let a whiny-voiced growl slip as he recognized the much bigger hunter to his own displeasure.

The other one wore a dark green hoodie with a black hood which left sleeve was missing completely while the right sleeve of the hoodie was just half shredded. He also wore gray pants and was barefoot. His face as well as his left arm were adorned with many ugly scars and a pair of empty eye sockets could creep anyone out with their unseen stare. All in all the other one was a picture of a scary looking, muscular giant.

There was no mistake, no denying it. These looks coupled with the familiar scent and the sadistic grin made it clear to him who this other hunter was.

Scarface.

Or at least that was what he used to call the other hunter a long time ago who was still at least twice his size.

Why was he here? He had thought that Scarface and his pack were wide away. At least they had to be in another city entirely. That time he had made sure to cover a lot of ground between them and himself.

Fed up with the continuing staring match Scarface took a step closer to the smaller hunter who quickly tried to hide his uneasiness and growled warningly while he took a defensive stance and bared his bloody teeth.

Scarface could just grin in amusement as he took this display in. Did that sorry excuse of a hunter really think that he could defeat his alpha? That he could stand a chance against a superior? Ridiculous!

Without any warning Scarface pounced on the smaller one but instead of warm flesh, his claws met the hard surface of the roof. The other one was fast. He had to give the little fucker that.

Grinning and licking his lips out of excitement Scarface turned his head to look over the hunter in the red hoodie with black sleeves who had really managed to dodge his attack.

But he wouldn't let this happen again.

With a loud snarl Scarface feinted an attack with his claws to the others face before he let his hand collide painfully with the back of the smaller ones head instead as the smaller one ducked to evade the blow to his face and presented so unwillingly his vulnerable neck and the back of his head.

More out of the shock than really out of the pain from the blow to the back of his head the hunter in the red hoodie tumbled ungracefully to the ground. Before he even could stand up again the bigger hunter was over him and pinned him to the hard surface of the rooftop. While Scarface's hands pressed down on his shoulder blades his legs straddled his own in order to immobilize him that way.

The smaller one growled out of fury and shame before he ended up whining and whimpering as Scarface's claws pierced the flesh of his shoulder blades warningly. He was at the mercy of his former alpha and there seemed nothing he could do about it.

He jumped and a startled yelp left his lips as Scarface bit in the material of his hood and tore it from his head to expose him to the evil light. He immediately squeezed his one eye shut while he whined loudly and started to squirm.

The sudden low growl and the feeling of sharp teeth grazing his throat stopped him in all his movements. Fearfully he held still and just let a quiet submissive whimper pass his lips. He didn't mistook the warning for anything else but what it was. Even the slightest wrong move and the bigger hunter would really bite down and pierce his flesh with his razor sharp teeth to easily tear out some flesh. He didn't want to end like that. He wanted to live a little while longer, thank you very much.

Scarface finally seemed satisfied with his now more submissive reaction to his actions as he purred confidently and slowly retreated first from his throat and then entirely from him.

His first instinct as he felt the weight lifting from his body was to get as much space between them as possible. But before he could do just that one of Scarface's feet kicked him painfully in the ribs so that he slid a few meters over the rooftop before he came to a stop.

The following snarl that left Scarface's lips made the message clear. Leave now, that prey is mine!

Weakly coughing the smaller one slowly sat up before he pulled his hood back over his head and glared hatefully at the other hunter.

With another furious snarl from Scarface he finally fled the scene and leaped from rooftop to rooftop. As he looked briefly back over his shoulder he could watch how Scarface entered the building in which was the prey with a sadistic grin on his face.

He couldn't help himself but to growl out of frustration about this. And there went his meal.

How he hated this hunter! He detested Scarface over all else.

Back in his temporary dent he paced back and forth while still growling to himself. He would go back later. Hopefully there would still be some food left for him. Even if it was just a little bit. It didn't matter anymore now. He needed something to eat no matter how small the portion would be.

Whining he dropped on the coach while all the while wondering why Scarface was here in the first place. Scarface's appearance meant that the pack couldn't be too far away either. Even though he could still remember that the alpha male prefered to hunt all by himself and to leave his pack behind for a while before he returned to it again. So the pack could also be far away.

While he wracked his brains for answers it didn't take him long to doze off in a fitful sleep.

* * *

The next time he woke up it was nighttime.

Without any hesitation he immediately jumped from the couch and out the window to get back to that building. As he arrived there it was unusually quiet. Beside the occasional moans of the stupid ones who stumbled dumbly around there was no other sound.

Cocking his head to the side the hunter jumped from the rooftop and landed directly in front of the entrance of the building in that had been the prey.

Before he entered he sniffed the air and discovered to his relieve that Scarface wasn't around anymore. Even though his scent was still in the air it was so faint that he couldn't be here in person.

After his stomach reminded him again painfully that he needed something to eat he crawled in the building and up the stairs where the smell of blood was the strongest.

In the hallway he could spot some stupid ones who all seemed to gather around a corpse. Snarling the hunter sprinted towards them and violently lashed out. Surprised the stupid ones stumbled back before they realized who had interrupted them and made obediently room for the snarling hunter. Some of them walked off entirely while the others still stood near and regarded the small hunter with uneasiness.

The hunter didn't pay them any more attention and instead looked at the corpse of which wasn't that much left. It seemed like it had been a woman with ginger hair at some point even though he couldn't be too sure about that.

Shrugging he bent down and greedily ate the poorly remains which didn't really fill his stomach to his liking. But at least it was something and it lessened the pain in his stomach a little bit.

Though he couldn't help himself to be disappointed as he finished all of it and looked around him, hoping that there was another corpse around. But to his misfortune there wasn't.

Had there been just one survivor or had the stupid ones or even Scarface ate all of them whole? He was certain that he had smelled more than one prey earlier that day. Or had he been mistaken?

Just to make sure he sniffed in the air again and paused. There was another scent. Hard to detect under all the smell of gore and blood but there was definitely some other scent. A fresh and warm scent.

Someone was still alive in this building!

But why did Scarface let them live and didn't ate them too? Or at least brought them back to his pack?

Well, he supposed the bigger hunter got his fill and didn't care enough to scout the building afterwards.

Shrugging the hunter decided that it didn't matter. That was all the better for him.

Eagerly he followed the scent along the hallway and in one of the rooms. He slightly looked around him before he pinpointed the location where the scent was the strongest.

The closet. The prey was in the closet.

Silently he sneaked up to the closet and sat down on his haunches in front of the closed wooden doors. The only thing that he could hear from inside the closet was deep and slow breathing.

That was weird. Normally the breath of the prey would quicken when it saw him or one of his brethren.

Slightly confused the hunter leaned forward and looked through the crack of the two doors of the closet. He needed a short moment to spot the prey. But what he saw confused him just even more.

Why was the prey so small? And why did it sleep in there?

But before he could dwell too long on that he noticed the blue hoodie and the similarity it brought with it to something or rather someone else.

Suddenly an image of a grinning pup with a blue hoodie flashed before him._ The pup snuggled __with a big grin on its face__ close to him to se__e__k his warmth while he purred at it. _

Growling to himself he wildly shook his head in order to get the images to vanish. He didn't want to see that. He didn't want to remember that now!

Some movement in the closet catched his attention and pulled him out of his slight panicked thoughts. It seemed like he woke the little thing up with his growl.

At first the little girl – and he just noticed now that it was indeed female – stired and slowly sat up whereupon she looked around herself and seemed not to like what she saw. At first the hunter was confused as the little thing pulled her hood over her head but as he took the view in and heard the little whimper another image flashed before his inner eye.

_A pup, a little female what was rare in their species, clutched at her blue hood while she whimpered pathetically and curled up on the ground. He tried to calm her down as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. He didn't like it when she was scared of something. His little girl should be happy and not scared or sad._

The hunter furiously shook his head as another growl left his lips. He bared his teeth out of slight pain and anger that the images brought with them. He really didn't want to think about this!

But to his luck the little girl in the closet distracted him again from his own thoughts as her big grey-blue eyes met with his one milky green eye and instantly filled up with horror. He could practically smell the terror on her as well as he could hear the quickening of her heartbeat.

Usually these things would bring him joy and a kind of excitement but now he couldn't help himself but to dislike it. He didn't really like it to see that little girl so distressed.

But why?

Carefully he raised his arms and slowly opened the doors of the closet whereupon the girl gasped loudly and hurriedly scooted back until her back hit the wooden wall of the closet.

Even though the survivors liked to believe that all infected were too stupid to open some doors that wasn't the case, obviously. He wasn't that dumb that he didn't know how to open a fricking door!

Silently he studied the little girl a little bit closer now that some more light was provided through the open doors.

The little girl wore a blue hoodie that seemed to be a little bit too big for her. If he wasn't mistaken it also had some kind of white wings on its back, even though that didn't make much sense to him. Along the blue hoodie with the white wings she wore a dark red short skirt and under that a pair of black tights. She also wasn't barefoot but had black boots on.

The hunter noticed rather quickly that the girl regarded him as well. Her big grey-blue eyes roamed fearfully over his body. At first she looked at his bare feet then she wandered up higher and viewed his pair of black pants. After that she regarded his dark red hoodie that had black sleeves before she finally ended up to stare in his face which was mostly cloaked in shadows.

After he took the image of the girl really in he became painfully aware of the fact how similar they looked.

He now knew why. He knew why he didn't feel the urge to eat that little thing.

The little girl reminded him painfully of his own little pup who he had lost. It almost was like his dead beloved pup sat in a human form before him right at this moment. He missed his little girl so much so that he would give almost everything to get her back.

It was so absurd but nevertheless his instincts told him that this girl was a helpless pup – it was _his_ pup.

And he had to protect his pup no matter what.


	3. Cats and Sharks

_Hello everyone :D_

_And here is the third chapter! :) And I know that it took longer than the last update. But school started again so I have not so much time on my hands anymore to write. This means that the updates will take some time. But I will not abandon this story, for that it makes too much fun to write it :')_

_And thank you for the reviews, favs and follows. I'm happy to see/read that you all like my story :'D_

_Well, enough of my babbling X'D_

_Enjoy the chapter ;D (And like always, you can point any mistake that I made out to me)_

_Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are_

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**Chapter 3_Cats and Sharks  
**

Chiara was terrified as she pressed herself tightly against the wooden wall of the closet in the hopeless try to vanish through it.

She gulped loudly as she tried to calm her nerves a little bit before she hesitantly looked at the hunter again who still just sat there and stared at her. She had to admit that it was slightly unnerving and made her even more nervous than she already was.

Why was he staring? Why wasn't he attacking her?

Her daddy had always warned her of all the bad people because they were dangerous and would bring immense pain when they attacked what would most likely end in death. And her daddy told her always the truth. He was also always right.

So why wasn't she in any pain and why wasn't she dead?

She barely wondered about all this as the hunter finally moved. He reached with one of his dirty and bloody hands for her whereupon Chiara flinched violently and out of sudden panic and the following adrenalin rush she darted out of the closet and past the hunter who seemed too stunned for a moment to react properly and to grab her.

But unfortunately for her this didn't last long as she heard a quiet growl from the hunter before he spun around and tried to grab her again. Panicked the little girl stumbled back with a loud cry whereupon she lost her balance and fell clumsily on her butt.

Before the hands of the hunter could touch her – and they had just been some millimeters afar from doing so – some loud moans sounded as a few commons stumbled in the room. They must have heard her cry and wanted to hurt her now.

As the hunter looked up and over to the other bad people so that his focus wasn't only on the little girl anymore Chiara made immediately use of the opportunity.

She hurriedly spun around and crawled on all fours away from the bad people before she spotted the bed and quickly hid under that. Clamping her hand over her own mouth to prevent herself from making any noise, that she wanted to do so desperately, she shut her eyes tightly and just wished that all the bad people would be gone.

She flinched violently as she heard the angered snarling and growling from the hunter before some pained noises sounded from the commons. She didn't even dare to open her eyes as she heard how claws met rotting flesh and how blood splattered on the floor – even though the little girl didn't know for sure what was happening and what these awful sounds meant.

Not until it became deathly quiet in the room did she hesitantly open her eyes and rolled slowly on her stomach to have a better look. But all she could see was weird dark red stuff that was nearly black on the floor and a pair of dirty feet and bloody hands.

The hunter was still here!

Upon this realization Chiara couldn't stop the quiet whimper from escaping her lips. The noise barely sounded in the room, as the feet and hands of the hunter moved in the direction of the bed, in front of which he stopped and crouched down in order to look under it.

The hunter uttered a soft sounding noise as his gaze fell on the little girl before he quickly reached out for her.

Chiara's eyes widened while she clumsily started an attempt to crawl out of reach of the hunter's arm. But this time she was too slow.

A choked cry left her lips as the hand of the hunter grabbed one of her ankles and started to pull her to him. The little girl tried desperately to hold on to something but her short nails clawed uselessly for the floor.

This was it. With a loud whimper she squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the pain that would come next.

But instead of pain she suddenly felt two arms around her which pressed her small body against another bigger one. Surprised she opened her eyes again only to see a clothed chest in front of her. She had to blink several times before she finally could process what had happened.

Did that hunter seriously hold her in his arms? Was he trying to hug her?

Confused Chiara looked up and directly in the face of the infected. From her angle she had a perfect view at his face and no shadows were there to hide his facial features. But what the little girl saw reminded her of the fact what this person who held her close really was.

It was one of the bad people. The sight of dried blood around his mouth and especially the one empty eye socket and the only remaining eye that looked also directly at her frightened her. It looked creepy.

Scared she started to squirm but stopped again as a soft and comforting sound reached her ears. She needed some seconds to realize what it was exactly.

The hunter was purring!

As the purring continued the hunter slowly dipped his head and began to nuzzle her head which was still covered with her blue hood.

Chiara was more confused than ever even though she couldn't prevent herself from noticing that the actions of the hunter reminded her of a really big cat. Cats weren't bad, they were cute animals...

Maybe this hunter was just like a cat and just wanted to cuddle and to be pet. Was that the reason why he hadn't hurt her yet?

Taking a deep breath Chiara raised one of her slightly shaking hands and reached out for the hunters head even though she could just reach his cheek.

"Don't bite me...", muttered the little girl with a shaking voice as she tentatively petted the hunters cheek who instantly stopped his purring and looked with his one eye at her what just brought her an uneasy feeling in her gut.

Didn't he like to be petted? He was the one who started the cuddling and started the whole cat act!

The sudden toothy grin of the hunter startled her and she slightly flinched out of the false assumption that he would bite her regardless.

But the little girl was damn sure that those sharp teeth weren't of a cat of any kind. They reminded her more of a shark that she had seen once on television.

Chiara furrowed her brow as she stared at those bloody teeth and started to think. Even though the hunter purred and moved like a big cat he still had teeth and the appetite for meat like a dangerous shark.

But before she could dwell any further on that she was suddenly put down on the ground so her back faced the hunter who now sat behind her.

She considered to look back over her shoulder to see what the hunter was doing, but before she could do exactly that the hunter bit without any warning in the material of her hoodie by the nape of the neck and lifted her from the ground.

Chiara squealed out of surprise and slight fright as her feet dangled uselessly in the air while the hunter seemed to have decided to carry her around like cats did with their baby kitties.

As the little girl realized that the hunter was moving in the direction of the window in the room she started to flail her arms in a slight panic.

"Wait! I can't go! I still have to wait for my mommy and daddy! They're coming back to get me!", shouted Chiara helplessly even though she already knew that her parents would probably never come back.

The only answer she got from the hunter was a low growl while he still moved on until he reached the window that was wide open. Without hesitation he grabbed the edge of the window frame before he slightly crouched down to gather some energy in his legs.

"What are you doing? The door is downstairs... You can't go through the window, silly! Even I know that.", informed Chiara the hunter confused whereupon he just ignored her and her words and suddenly jumped out of the open window like he wanted to confute her prior words.

The little girl couldn't help the scream that escaped her lips as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut and drew her legs up nearer to her own body. They were going to die!

But the expected pain or death didn't come, instead a low purring noise sounded and she could feel how she swung oh so slightly from the right to the left and back as the hunter shook slowly his head in order to bring her to open her eyes – what she did very hesitantly.

Their new location shocked her. She could only stare in disbelieve at the surroundings of the rooftop on that they currently were – even though she couldn't see too much of it since the hunter's teeth were still biting down on the material of her hoodie in the area of her neck, so that she wasn't able to turn her head properly.

What exactly did just happen? How did they end up here? And why did they survive a jump out of the window?

Confused the little girl furrowed her brow before she remembered the words of her daddy. Hunters could jump really high... So that would mean that they could also withstand a very high drop that would follow the high jump. That had to be it.

"And what now?", asked Chiara out loud even though she didn't expect any real reply from the hunter who looked around before he started to move again.

This time as the hunter leaped from rooftop to rooftop the little girl was just a little bit scared, now that she knew that such a jump wouldn't end in their death. Instead she quickly took a shine to traveling like that. She couldn't really believe it herself but it was fun to jump like that from rooftop to rooftop. It was just like flying, so that she couldn't help herself but to spread her arms to her sides like a plane and to squeal out of delight. She wasn't too sure but she thought that she heard the hunter cackling about her behavior, what she just shrugged off and rather enjoyed their short journey.

It wasn't too long until they stopped again on a rooftop where the hunter looked briefly around and sniffed the air before he crawled to the edge of the building and climbed on a windowsill on the top floor to jump through the shattered window and in the room.

After he sniffed in the air again he carefully lowered his head until Chiaras feet touched the ground and released the material of her hoodie from his teeth and just stared at the little girl.

Chiara looked around her surroundings and was surprised that the little apartment looked so untouched from all the mess that was going on. She couldn't detect any blood on the walls or the floor and all the furniture seemed to be still intact. The most places she had seen before were tainted in red and you had to look out where you stepped because of all the broken furniture, the broken glass or body parts – even though her parents had made sure that she didn't see too much of the latter when it could be helped.

"Is this your home?", asked the little girl the hunter as she turned around to him who just cocked his head and seemed somewhat confused before he lifted his hand and pointed at first at her and then to their surroundings with a quiet inquiring sounding noise.

Now it was Chiaras turn to be confused. Did the hunter even understand her? It didn't seem like it.

She bit her bottom lip as she looked around again, hoping to see what the hunter had pointed out but she couldn't detect anything special. They stood in the living room with an open kitchen, there were also two doors – even though one of them was just a door frame while the other one was closed with an actual door out of wood – which were leading out of the large room. She guessed that behind the closed door was the bathroom and through the doorframe you would end up in a bedroom. Just as she was in the process to look back at the hunter something else catched her attention.

There was a fridge standing in the small kitchen. A fridge meant food. She just now realized how hungry she was.

Hurriedly she ran up to the fridge and reached for the handle, but no matter how much she stretched she couldn't reach it. She was just too small. Frustrated she huffed and started to pout as she folded her arms in front of her chest.

She looked up again as the hunter crawled over to her and sat down on his haunches beside her.

"Can you open it, please?" To clarify her request Chiara pointed at the handle of the fridge and made some motions with her hands like she wanted to open a door.

The little girl sighed out of relieve as the hunter seemed to understand and reached for the handle which he grabbed somewhat awkwardly and pulled the door of the fridge open.

Chiara instantly looked at the contents of the fridge which wasn't much. Most of the stuff seemed to be moldy. At least they looked like something that she wanted to eat once but her mummy had taken it from her with the explanation that the food was moldy and that she would get stomach pain from it plus getting sick.

Sighing the little girl closed the fridge again and turned around to investigate the rest of the little apartment. While she walked over to the closed door she reached up and pulled her hood from her head so that her ginger hair and the pigtails appeared. She shook her head slightly and her pigtails bounced on either side of her head with the motion before her hood was suddenly grabbed and pulled over her head again.

"What...?" Confused the little girl looked up and at the hunter who had done it. Frowning slightly Chiara reached up and pulled her hood from her head again. As she saw how the hunter wanted to grab her hood again she quickly batted the offending hand away and shook her head wildly.

"Cut it out!", demanded the little girl firmly and frowned at the hunter who finally sighed in defeat and lowered his hand.

Satisfied with her small victory Chiara smiled happily before she turned around again and walked up to the closed door. She looked back at her companion and pointed meaningfully at the door knob whereupon the hunter crawled over to her, reached for the door knob and opened the door for the little girl.

Like Chiara had suspected it was a small bathroom with a toilet, a basin and a bathtub that you could also use as a shower.

Nodding to herself she went to the doorframe that lacked an actual door and looked in the room which was indeed a bedroom with a king-sized bed right in the middle of it. As she regarded the bed she couldn't help the yawn from escaping her while she rubbed her eyes with one hand.

The recently happenings must have tired her out more than she had thought. And the sleep she got in the closet hadn't been that recreative.

She looked up at the hunter as he nudged her with his nose. She yawned again and petted her companion without thinking on the head. The hunter held still for a moment before he crawled quickly to the coach in the living room to grab some pillows that laid on the coach. With the pillows he came back to the bedroom where he jumped on the bed and arranged the blanket and the fluffy pillows to his liking.

Chiara cocked her head slightly in confusion as she watched the hunter, but shrugged shortly after and stepped up to the big window in the bedroom that led to a balcony. She was too tired to figure out to what the hunter was up to.

The little girl looked out the window and over the rooftops. This building was really high. Most of the other surrounding buildings were at least a little bit less high.

A rough cough from outside, followed instantly by a growl from the hunter behind her on the bed pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked briefly back over her shoulder to her companion who seemed a little agitated before she looked back out the window and pressed her face against the cool glass of the window in order to see better through the night. But she couldn't really spot anything that looked suspicious.

Nevertheless the hunter didn't stop his growling. Just as Chiara wanted to ask what was the matter she was grabbed by the hunter and carried to the bed.

The way the pillows and the blanket were arranged reminded the little girl of some kind of a nest from a bird.

The hunter laid her down in the nest before he joined her in the nest and laid down beside her. He instantly pulled her nearer to his chest to share some of his body heat while he curled up on the bed and created so a protective wall out of his own flesh for the little girl.

Chiara was at first a little bit uncomfortable to be that close to the hunter but she quickly shoved that feeling to the side and snuggled close to the warmth and safety that the hunter provided. If she shut her eyes and ignored the bad smell of the hunter it was almost like her daddy laid here with her and cradled her in his arms to help her to sleep.

But her daddy was dead. He would never hold her in his arms again. A quiet sob left Chiara's lips as the tears started to flow down her cheeks. She missed her daddy and mummy. She wanted them back!

The hunter whimpered quietly as he nudged her with his nose again before he started to purr at her and to nuzzle her in the vain attempt to comfort her.

Chiara sobbed just louder as she clenched her small fingers in the material of her companion's hoodie. She faltered slightly as one of her hands felt something hard rather than soft. In an attempt to distract herself from her sorrow she groped the object through the material of the hoodie until she realized that it had to be a pendant of a necklace. Slowly she reached up and slipped her hand under the hoodie of the hunter who jumped out of surprise before he growled warningly. Chiara ignored the warning as she got a grip on the necklace and pulled it out from under the hoodie.

She blinked her blurry eyes a couple of times in order to see something through the tears which slowly ran dry.

The pendant was a shark out of silver. It was a simple design but it still looked pretty.

As the little girl stared at the silver pendant of the necklace she remembered the sharp teeth of the hunter which had reminded her of the teeth of a shark.

Shark. That wouldn't be such a bad name to call the hunter. She had to call the hunter something after all. She couldn't just address him as 'mister Hunter' or with a simple 'you'. The more often she repeated the name in her head, the more she liked it. Shark it was then.

With a small smile she released the pendant from her grip so that it dangled from the hunters neck again before she tried to wipe the remaining tears away.

"Thanks. Good night, Shark.", mumbled Chiara weakly and nestled up against Shark who stared at her still somewhat worried and with a questioning look. Even though she was dead tired she couldn't sleep immediately. Too much was going through her head and the bad smell of the hunter didn't help either.

Not til Shark started to purr again did the little girl drift off with a small smile on her lips and the fleeting thought that the hunter needed a bath.


	4. Foraging part 1

_Hello everyone! :D_

_And here is the next chapter even though it isn't the whole chapter. Actually this chapter is way longer but I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer so I decided to split the chapter in two parts. Soooo~ Here you have part one ;)_

_I hope you enjoy the chapter ;D_

_I also hope that there aren't too many mistakes, if so then just point them out to me :')_

_Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are_

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**Chapter 4_Foraging _part 1_**

The hunter looked once again out of the big window from the corner of his eye as he listened to the sounds of the night. He could barely hear the rough coughing anymore that was some hours ago too loud and too near to their location to his liking. But now it seemed like the smoker – how the prey called this brethren of his – had walked off and was wide away from their current location.

A hardly noticable movement in his arms catched his attention and he quickly looked back at his little pup who was still sleeping peacefully in his arms and was snuggled up to him. He couldn't help himself but to smile at this before he frowned slightly.

By the looks of it his new pup slept during the night and was awake at daytime. That was a problem since he prefered it the other way around. He could hunt better during the night when no evil light threatened to hurt his eye.

But looking at the little girl he sighed deeply in defeat and decided to his own displeasure that he would have to change his sleeping mannerisms. He could hardly go hunting in the night and leaving his sleeping pup alone in the nest. He couldn't do that.

But on the bright side there would be one good thing about this. His brethren showed also more up during the night so that the possibility of meeting a lot of his brethren during daytime was unlikely. That would mean less danger for his pup when he would take her outside with him.

Looking out the window again he noticed that it was already somewhat brighter outside. It wouldn't be too long until the sun would rise and the evil light would come back. He cringed at the mere thought of light that would hurt his remaining eye.

But what wouldn't he all do for his pup?

He looked back at the little girl as she began to stir. She was waking up.

Slowly she opened her eyes before she blinked a couple of times and rubbed her eyes with one hand as a big yawn left her lips. At first she seemed to be confused about something before she gasped loudly and scooted hurriedly back from him.

Confused about the behavior of his pup the hunter whined quietly while he slowly reached for the little girl. Why was she afraid of him? He had thought that he had made it clear that he wouldn't mean any harm to her.

But the little girl whimpered out of terror as she scooted further back, away from his grip, while she helplessly shook her head.

The hunter stopped in all his movements so that his hand remained as an offer to take it outstretched in the air before he started to purr lowly. He really hoped that this would work. At least his purring had calmed her down before.

His pup froze but then she seemed to realize something as she relaxed visibly and smiled weakly whereupon she still somewhat hesitantly reached out to him and put her little hand in his much bigger one.

With a toothy grin of his own he carefully pulled the little girl to him and pressed her lightly against his chest while he still purred all the way.

"Good morning, Shark.", mumbled his pup and even though he couldn't understand the meaning of the words he replied with a soft sounding noise.

He looked down at his pup as she lifted her hand and grabbed the pendant that still dangled from his neck so she could trace the edges of the pendant with her thumb. The hunter cocked his head and hummed lowly while he at first watched the little girl closely and then regarded the pendant in her little hand. He hadn't even known that he possessed that small thing – let alone that he had worn it under his hoodie before his pup pulled it out from under his hoodie last night. But the longer he regarded the silver thing, the more familiar it looked to him.

As his little girl noticed his intent stare she looked at him, back at the pendent and then again to him before she opened her mouth to say something.

"That's a pendant or actually it's a shark. It kinda fits you, Shark. Oh, right... that's your name now by the way. Shark."

The hunter really tried to understand the words but he failed miserably at it so that he was just left confused. Fortunately his pup was a smart little girl and sensed his confusion immediately whereupon she bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brow. She was probably trying to figure out how she could communicate with him so that he would understand what she wanted to say.

After some seconds it seemed like she found a solution as she slowly lifted her right hand and pressed the appendage to her own chest.

"Chiara." She said very slowly before she lifted her hand again and pressed it against his chest this time.

"Shark." He was still somewhat confused as he cocked his head whereupon his pup sighed loudly, shook her head and repeated the motions and the words a couple of times more.

The hunter wracked his brains for an answer to give the motions and the words any sense as he finally thought he got it. It was like someone turned a switch in his head and suddenly it was all clear to him.

So his pup's name was Chiara and she seemed to have decided to call him Shark. Shark wasn't such a bad name, in fact he kinda liked the sound of the name.

"Chrrrraaa... Shaaarrrr..." Shark tried to say the names but all what left his lips were some slurred growling noises. But he didn't care, instead he lowered his head and nuzzled his pup lovingly while he purred happily.

It looked like his little girl understood his slurred attempts regardless as she smiled proudly and petted him on the head. He still didn't understand why Chiara petted him all the time, but he wouldn't do anything against it. She seemed to like doing it and he had to admit that it felt kinda nice to be petted.

The lovely moment was interrupted as suddenly a growl sounded in the room that didn't come from the hunter. Shark quickly realized that the noise came from his pup or to be more specific from her stomach. She was hungry – just like Shark who felt like he was starving and had felt that way for days.

So it was time for hunting.

Shark quickly jumped with Chiara in his arms from the bed before he slung only one arm around the little girl and propped himself up with his other arm, so he could still crawl out of the bedroom and in the living room with the open kitchen – even though it looked somewhat awkward. In the living room he stopped again and put his pup down whereupon he grabbed her hood and pulled the blue material over her head.

"Hey!", protested his little girl loudly as she pulled her hood from her head again and shook her head stubbornly.

Growling Shark grabbed the hood a second time and pulled it back over her head. But this time he didn't let go of the hood and didn't budge as his pup tried to rip the hood out of his grip and from her head.

"Cut it out, Shark!", demanded Chiara with a big pout but Shark stayed unwavering. He wouldn't let her have her will this time. He just backed off last night because there had been no evil light. But now it was daytime and so she had to wear the hood. Besides she wouldn't stand out that much with the hood on. With the hood on she nearly looked like his dead beloved pup – like a real hunter pup – even to him.

Shark waited some long seconds – during this time Chiara didn't stop to struggle and stubbornly tried to free her hood out of his grip – before he had enough of this. With a loud warning growl he tugged roughly at the hood and bared his bloody teeth whereupon the little girl flinched out of surprise and slight fright. She trembled lightly as she looked from under her hood up at the hunter who slowly let go of her hood and stared with his one eye warningly at her.

It seemed like his pup finally got the message as she stood still and didn't try to pull the hood off her head again. Slowly Shark dipped his head and nuzzled the head of his pup while he purred lowly – a small apology for his fierce behavior not some seconds ago. To his relief his little pup forgave him as she petted him once again on the head with a weak smile on her lips.

Satisfied Shark pulled away so he could turn the little girl around and could bite down on the material of the hoodie of the neck area. He lifted his pup from the ground with ease before he crawled over to the window in the living room. Without hesitation he jumped on the windowsill and quickly climbed up on the rooftop where he looked around and sniffed the air. The only thing he could smell was the scent of death and gore that lingered always and everywhere in the air.

He wouldn't find any prey anywhere near their location so that he crouched down and leaped to another rooftop. He couldn't help the amused cackling that escaped him as his pup spread her arms and squealed gleefully, just like she did last night. He was happy that Chiara was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

While he jumped from rooftop to rooftop he didn't stop to sniff the air and to look briefly around. He doubted that they would find any survivors and the stupid ones just tasted awful. He had eaten one of them before out of sheer desperation but had regretted it right afterwards. Even though it was a last resort he tried to avoid it for as long as possible.

A faint scent of something living catched his attention and he instantly changed the direction until he stopped on a rooftop of a house – a small one compared to the other buildings around. A large forest extended just in front of them that didn't seem to have an end to it.

The scent of the living thing came definitely from out of the forest and yet Shark hesitated to follow that scent. That forest wasn't part of his hunting grounds anymore and another scent that lingered in the air made him more than just uncomfortable. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut off as he placed the scent to a face.

Scarface. It was really faint but he could still smell it around here. That was Scarface's scent without any doubt. This left just the question if they would met the bigger hunter when they entered and roamed the forest?

"What's wrong?", the questioning voice of his pup pulled Shark out of his musings and reminded him of his actually task at hand. He mustn't be scared. He had to feed his pup no matter what.

With an uneasy growl he finally jumped from the roof and landed safely on the ground whereupon he approached the first trees with caution. He had to be very heedful in case that something or rather someone dangerous waited for them in the forest. He wouldn't let any harm come to his little pup.

"Shark? What do you want in a forest?" The tender voice of his little girl startled him so that he froze in all his movements and squinted down at her – even though he could just see the back of her head. Besides his new name he hadn't understood a word. But it was bad to talk right now, they had to be as quiet as possible.

Shark snarled softly and scowled before he raised one of his hands and pressed his index finger against Chiara's lips to signal her to be quiet. Fortunately his little girl seemed to understand as she nodded slightly and pressed her lips together – even though she tried to look back at him to probably give him a questioning look.

Nodding to himself the hunter paid his pup no more attention and instead concentrated on the hunt and their surroundings. Sniffing the air again he jumped up on a thick branch of a tree before he leaped from branch to branch and followed the scent of the living thing.

To his displeasure he noticed rather quickly that not just the scent of the living thing was getting stronger but Scarface's as well. This wasn't good. He just hoped that the bigger hunter only went through this forest recently and wasn't here in person anymore.

Shark jumped to the ground as he heard a small noise and could pinpoint the location of the prey through its scent. It was really close. Silently he bent down and released the material of the blue hood from his teeth as Chiara's feet touched the ground.

The little girl immediately spun around to him and looked up to him. He could practically see the big question mark over her head as she gave him a confused look. As he saw how his pup opened her mouth to say something he quickly pressed his hand over her mouth and shook his head with a scowl plastered on his face.

All that left Chiara's mouth was some angry unknowable mumbling before a muffled sigh left her lips and she nodded while she crossed her arms over her chest.

Satisfied Shark pulled his hand away from her mouth before he gently grabbed Chiara's shoulders and pushed her to some near bushes where he forced her to sit down. She just had to keep a low profile, then hopefully no one would find her until he came back with the prey.

With a low growl he turned around and took some steps before he heard some rustling behind him. Sighing out of frustration he turned to his pup again who was no more sitting on the ground but was standing in front of the bushes. With a fierce short growl he grabbed her shoulders once again and pushed her forcibly back on the ground between the many branches of the bushes whereupon the little girl whimpered quietly and bit her bottom lip hard which had started to tremble slightly.

Shark hurriedly bent down and started to purr lowly while he licked the little girl's cheek lovingly – a promise that he would come back. He didn't want his little girl to cry. Sniffing Chiara looked still somewhat confused up to him but didn't try to stand up again.

The hunter gave his pup a last toothy grin before he finally turned around and jumped in the direction of the living's scent.

It wasn't hard to track his prey by following its scent. It wasn't long until he spotted his prey on a small clearing whereupon he crouched down til his stomach touched the ground below him so that he couldn't be detected immediately.

If he remembered correctly then this hairy creature was called a deer, even though it was a small one of its kind. Nearly without any sound he sneaked up to his prey until he was near enough. With a loud shriek he pounced on the animal that went down with a little struggle to none. It hadn't had a chance against a hunter in the first place.

To finish the hunt Shark pierced the flesh of its throat with his sharp teeth before he tore a good portion out of it and started to chew hungrily on it whereupon a delightful moan left his lips. Even though it wasn't some flesh of survivors the flesh of the deer tasted like heaven to his starving stomach. Sure, nothing could top the taste of living survivors but fresh flesh of some animals didn't taste that bad either.

Greedily he tore out more of the bloody flesh and swallowed it hungrily before his feeding session was suddenly violently interrupted.

A choked cry left his lips as he was yanked off from over the dead deer by a heavy force. He landed painfully on his side on the ground some meters away. With a groan he tried to roll over on his stomach but he soon realized that something prevented him from doing so by forcibly holding him down.

A loud angry snarl left his lips as he looked up at the culprit but he fell quickly silent as he got a good look at the other one.

His fears became true. Scarface really had been in this forest all along. This wasn't good, it was a nightmare!

He glared hatefully while Scarface just gave him a sadistic grin before he bent down and lapped the still fresh blood from Shark's lips and chin whereupon a very low purr sounded from the bigger hunter.

Outraged about such an intimate action he snapped at the bigger one with his bloody teeth but all he got to bite down on was empty air. His angry snarl was quickly drowned out by Scarface's furious growl who slashed at him and left four bleeding scratches on his right cheek. It seemed like the other hunter didn't like and didn't want any resistance from his side.

A quiet whimper left Shark's lips as he felt the sting of the wound but he quickly forced himself to bear the pain – it wasn't even a bad injury, it would heal pretty fast, so there was no reason for whining about it. Instead he began to struggle wildly while he bit and scratched everything that he could reach – even though that wasn't much considering his position that didn't provide much freedom of movement.

A row of sharp teeth that suddenly pierced lightly his throat stopped him in all his movements. He could feel how his own blood trickled down his throat as a panicked whimper escaped him and his whole body tensed up.

Why went Scarface always for the throat first? He hated it to be at the mercy of his former alpha. But he also knew that this situation would end in his death when he wouldn't show some submissive behavior soon. Oh, how the bigger hunter loved it to dominate others and to have the control.

Shark had to force himself to go limp in Scarface's grip and to let a loud submissive whimper pass his lips. Some long tense seconds went by before the bigger hunter finally released Shark's throat but faltered as he was about to pull back.

Shark was confused as Scarface suddenly began to smell him. The bigger one pressed his nose into the smaller one's curve of the neck before he sniffed his clothed chest while Shark squirmed slightly out of discomfort. What was Scarface doing or rather why was he doing that?

Some seconds passed until the realization hit Shark like a brick wall. The other hunter could smell Chiara on him! Shit, that wasn't good at all.

Before Scarface had the chance to make any sense of the scent Shark lashed out violently. To his luck he catched the other hunter by surprise so that he established it to buck the other one off of him. Hurriedly he rolled on his stomach and jumped up on all fours to face the bigger one.

He wouldn't let Scarface hurt his pup. Not again, never again! He wouldn't loose another pup through Scarface's hands.

Shark snarled out of fury as he pounced on the other hunter and started to claw at him. But before he could have gotten a good swipe at the other one Scarface threw him off of him with a furious snarl of his own.

Growling Shark looked briefly around – searching for a good escape route. Even though he wanted to rip the bigger hunter apart he knew that he didn't possess the necessary strength to do it. Scarface was way stronger than he was but fortunately he was much faster than Scarface. That meant that he could outrun him.

The smaller hunter saw the attack coming as Scarface tensed up. He quickly dodged the pounce with a roll to the side before he jumped on a thick branch of a nearby tree and screeched tauntingly at the bigger hunter.

Scarface shaked with rage as he also jumped up on one of the branches to follow him – just like Shark had predicted. Scarface barely landed on the same branch as Shark as the smaller one swiftly leaped to the next branch and then to another one whereupon Scarface instantly started the chase with an outraged shriek.

Shark looked briefly back over his shoulder as he leaped from tree to tree to make sure that Scarface was indeed following him. And that was just what he was doing. Good. With that knowledge he looked back at the way ahead of him. He had made sure to run off in the opposite direction from Chiara's location. Now he just had to loose Scarface somehow.

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_Cliffhanger!_

_Yeah, I know, I'm mean X'D_


	5. Foraging part 2

_Hello everyone :D_

_And here is part two of the chapter 'Foraging' :)_

_And maybe some of you noticed that this FF has a new cover image. And yes that's Shark X'D You can find the link to the picture on my profile and please read the description to the picture! Thanks. I would appreciate it when you could tell me what you think about the picture of Shark x3_

_And thank you for the reviews, favs and follows! You're all so sweet x3_

_Well, enjoy the chapter! :'D_

_Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are_

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**Chapter 5_ Foraging _part 2_**

He took full advantage of his speed and agility during the whole chase – but even though it seemed like he couldn't shake Scarface off his trail.

He was already running for some minutes, during that time he had covered a lot of ground between himself and the bigger hunter. Though Scarface was still chasing him.

With another brief look over his shoulder he could confirm that fact. The fuming giant of a hunter was struggling to keep up with him but he never disappeared from his sight nonetheless. What a stubborn nuisance the bigger hunter was.

Shark snorted irritably as he looked back ahead and tried to think of a good plan to leave Scarface behind. He didn't think that it would take so long to loose the other hunter. He just hoped that Chiara was still there where he left her and that no one had found her yet.

Sudden crying that sounded nearby pulled him out of his thoughts and immediately catched his attention. It seemed like a witch was nearby. He better avoided her – even though he could use her to his advantage. With any luck he could loose Scarface through the crying woman or he would be killed by her. Should he risk it or better not?

Swallowing hard he made a turn and moved towards the sound of sobbing and crying. He just hoped that all would go according to plan.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination where he stopped on one of the many branches and looked down at the sobbing creature who sat on a stump. She hadn't noticed him yet.

Taking a deep nervous breath Shark looked back over his shoulder before a heavy force collided with him and yanked him off the tree. Together with Scarface who held his shoulders in a death grip he flew through the air until the soft body of the witch stopped their fall. The two hunters collided ruggedly with the witch whereupon all three of them rolled over the dirty ground through the fierce collision – even though Shark could have sworn that he bounced against something hard at some point during the whole rough landing process. He guessed that it probably was the stump or some rocks or whatever.

Groaning out of pain Shark looked up to see where he and the other two ended up. The first time in his life he was relieved to see Scarface's face over him. That meant that he didn't land near or even on top of the crying woman. Instead he was lying on his side with Scarface on top of him. That just left the question where the witch was?

The smaller hunter quickly looked around them until he spotted the witch a few meters away who didn't look happy in the slightest. Shark couldn't help himself but to shudder and to gulp loudly by the sight of the furious witch.

After Scarface witnessed his reaction he followed the smaller hunter's line of sight whereupon he spotted the witch the first time for himself. Judging by the bigger hunter's reaction – who immediately tensed up and let a uneasy growl slip – he hadn't known that she was here. He probably had been so blinded by his fury that he had overheard the crying and instead had focused his attention only on the smaller hunter.

Before the two hunters could have acted accordingly to the present danger the witch dived for them with a loud outraged scream – and she was faster than anything that Shark had ever seen.

The furious woman lashed out with her long bloody claws whereupon Scarface shrieked out of pain. The witch clawed furiously at the bigger hunter's back which she shredded a good deal together with the hoodie. Fortunately Shark didn't suffer any damage even though Scarface wasn't that lucky who was acting unwillingly as the smaller one's protective shield by kneeling over Shark so that he suffered the full blow of the witch's attack.

But this didn't last for long as Scarface finally pulled himself together and spun around to the witch with a furious snarl of his own. Growling he lashed out himself whereupon he succeeded in slashing the witch's stomach open – even though that didn't stop the furious woman in her tracks.

Shark who wasn't pinned to the ground anymore made immediately use of the opportunity and hurriedly rolled on all his fours before he jumped on a thick branch. He nearly lost his grip and nearly fell right off the branch again as pain flooded his body. His whole body felt sore – even though his ribs felt the worse. It seemed like the hard landing from before had left some damage.

With a miserably groan he found his balance on the branch again while he looked back at the fighting pair. To his dismay he couldn't help but notice that Scarface's back didn't look that bad. Sure, the bigger hunter was bleeding and his hoodie had some tears on his back but it should have been a lot more worse for Shark's liking.

And if this wasn't already enough, to make matters worse it seemed like Scarface slowly but surely gained the upper hand of the fight. But even though, Shark wouldn't stay to find out for sure.

Snarling a last time in disdain he turned away from the sight and leaped to the next branch while he stubbornly tried to ignore the pain in his ribs. He mustn't let the pain hinder him from going back to his pup.

Halfway back he remembered the corpse of the animal whereupon he changed his direction slightly and followed the faint scent of blood. Even though he wanted to get back to his pup as fast as possible he couldn't come back empty-handed. He had to feed his little girl and the still fresh meat of the deer was perfect for that.

With that in mind he quickened his pace while he grit his teeth out of pain. Every movement hurt like hell – especially in the area of his ribs. But he couldn't let this bother him now. He had a duty to fulfill no matter what.

Panting hard he arrived at his destination in record time. He landed somewhat ungracefully on the ground right next to the dead deer that was luckily still lying there where he left it.

He promptly bent down and bit into a portion of the flesh which wasn't ripped apart yet so he could haul it off the ground and to his pup. As he tasted the blood of the animal he had to force himself to withstand it and to stay strong – even though his stomach protested painfully. He wasn't starving anymore, thanks to his little feeding session earlier, but he was still hungry and his body demanded more food.

He growled quietly to himself as he reminded himself that he had to feed his pup first.

It didn't take him too long to arrive at the location where he had left his little pup. He released the flesh of the dead animal from his teeth as he looked around and sniffed the air. He couldn't see the little girl anywhere even though he could smell her. She had to be here.

"Chrrraaaa?!" He barely called her name in his slurred attempt as Chiara suddenly burst out from under a nearby knocked-down tree that had covered a little hole in the ground and practically threw herself at Shark. She desperately clung to the hunter who instantly slung one arm around her and nuzzled her in the vain attempt to calm her down.

"I was scared! You took so long!", whined the little girl while she hurriedly tried to wipe the proof of tears away and slowly stepped back from Shark as the hunter released her from the hug.

Shark whined lowly as he realized that his little girl had been crying. But before he could have blamed himself for it his pup interrupted all his thoughts as she gasped loudly and reached up.

"What happened?! You're hurt!" The little girl touched carefully his cheek while her face was adorned with a worried expression.

At first Shark was confused about it until he remembered the four scratches on his cheek which he had gotten from Scarface. He nearly forgot about this. The pain in his ribs was so bad that he hadn't even felt the slight pain of the scratches on his cheek anymore.

He hurriedly shook his head before he reached for his pup and swooped the little girl from the ground so he could cradle her in his arms. He grinned reassuringly down at her while he purred lowly in the attempt to tell her that everything was alright.

His pup still didn't look fully convinced but she nodded nonetheless before she snuggled up to him and closed her eyes with a deep sigh.

The lovely moment lasted for some seconds before a quiet growl from Chiara's stomach interrupted the silence. He still had to feed his pup. Slowly Shark put the little girl on the ground again before he stepped aside to give his pup a full view of the dead deer.

But the reaction of his pup worried him. His little girl just stared in horror at the tattered flesh of the dead animal before tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"What... Why... Why did you kill it? It looks... Killing is bad! What shall I do with it?!", stammered Chiara while a choked sob escaped her.

Shark quickly pulled the little girl back into his arms to calm her somewhat down while he tried to understand what was the problem. Was something wrong with the food? But it looked fine to him. Just to make really sure he sniffed at the meat and it even smelled fine. There was nothing wrong with it.

Maybe his little girl just misunderstood him. Determined to get his point across he gently grabbed Chiara's chin and turned her head in the direction of the dead deer. With his other hand he pointed at the meat before he turned Chiara's head to him and pointed at himself this time while he made some exaggerated chewing motions.

His pup's watery eyes just grew bigger as she ripped her chin out of his grip and looked with an expression of pure disbelieve between him and the dead animal back and forth before her eyes finally stayed on him.

"Am I supposed to eat that?" Her voice was shaking as she spoke to him even though he still didn't understand a word. He was just about to repeat his actions to make her understand as his pup pointed at the dead deer herself and shook her head wildly.

"I can't! I don't eat that!", exclaimed the little girl while another choked sob escaped her.

No? Why not? Why wouldn't she eat it? The flesh of an animal was better than nothing. He couldn't just find a survivor on the spot.

That was when it finally began to dawn on him. His little pup was a survivor herself. Of course! The prey didn't eat the same things like the infected did.

He growled out of frustration before he cut himself off and bit his bottom lip hard. It seemed like he would have to find something else for his pup – some food that survivors ate. He didn't want to see her so upset anymore.

Besides time was running out. Shark didn't want to risk to meet Scarface again this day. And the risk was higher the longer they would stay in this forest.

No sooner said than done he bent down and bit down on the material of Chiara's hood in the neck area while he purred lowly to calm her down a little bit. He was just about to jump on a nearby branch as he remembered his aching ribs. It wouldn't be such a good idea to use the trees to move on. He didn't want to risk to fall from a tree together with his pup.

So he had to stick to the ground. The way out of the forest and back to his little territory in the city took some time but they arrived at their destination without any incidents nonetheless.

Now he just had to find some food for his pup even though he had no idea where exactly he should look for it. With a frustrated sigh he started to move again. He crawled along one of the many streets in a slow pace while he looked around him and sniffed the air every now and then.

"Let me down! If we don't jump then you can let me down." Shark just glanced at his pup for a short moment before he paid her no more attention and instead focused on the strange hunt with a low mewl.

For some seconds it was silent until his little girl spoke up again.

"Shark! Put me down!" The slightly angry voice and his name which was nearly shouted at him finally catched his entire attention. With an irritated growl he squinted down at Chiara who was pointing wildly to the ground and repeated her prior words like a mantra.

Shark furrowed his brow as he tried to put the words and the gesture together and to give it some meaning. He couldn't see anything special on the ground so that couldn't be it. But the words sounded somewhat familiar. Down... She was pointing down... She wanted down? Was that it? She didn't want to be carried anymore?!

Still somewhat unsure he bent down and released the little girl's hoodie as her feet touched the ground. His pup instantly spun around to him and smiled at him in approval before she petted his uninjured cheek once again. So he was right after all. The hunter couldn't help but to be proud of himself even though he still wondered why Chiara didn't want to be carried anymore.

He watched the little girl as she turned away from him and looked around before she started walking. He quickly followed his pup so that he crawled alongside the little girl.

"I can't see any red doors. Mummy and Daddy always looked for them. There was food and other stuff in there... At least most of the time." Shark paid the words of his pup not that much attention – he didn't understand anything of it anyway – even though he couldn't help himself but to notice the slightly sad tone in her voice.

He was just about to nuzzle her as he heard footsteps and moaning so that he perked up immediately. Not some seconds later he could see how some stupid ones stumbled from an alley on the street they were on.

As Chiara spotted them as well she promptly scooted closer to him and clung to one of his arms while she stared warily at them.

Some of them looked over to the pair before they stumbled in their direction. Shark didn't hesitate to show an aggressive posture and to growl warningly while he bared his bloody teeth. A few of the stupid ones stopped in their tracks as they recognized the warning but the small rest continued on.

Shark snarled loudly as he slashed at one of the stupid ones who had come too close for his liking. The infected slumped down to the dirty ground whereupon it stared up at the pair with its bloody eyes. The small hunter scowled right back before he put his free hand on its head and applied some pressure whereupon its fragile head gave away and blackish blood and some other disgusting stuff splattered on the ground.

With a last look at the mess Shark turned to the rest of the stupid ones and snarled furiously. The stupid ones – all of them – finally got the warning and understood the danger that the hunter posed so that they slowly turned away with wary eyes. Some of them walked away entirely while the other ones stayed where they were but didn't show any interest in the pair anymore.

Satisfied Shark relaxed a little bit before he looked at his pup who was still clinging to him and had her eyes tightly shut. He purred at her as he bent down and nudged her with his nose in an attempt to tell her that everything was alright now.

She hesitantly opened her eyes again and looked up to him whereupon she smiled weakly. The little girl glanced slightly at the mess of the stupid one on the ground but quickly looked away again before she hurriedly spun around and rushed further along the street.

Shark swiftly crawled after her until he crawled alongside her once again. Every now and then he looked worriedly at his little girl who had her head downcast until he couldn't take it anymore. He swiftly bent down and nuzzled his pup's head with a low whine.

"It's okay. Thanks, Shark.", mumbled Chiara quietly while she petted Shark's cheek halfheartedly. They stayed in this position for some seconds before the little girl stepped back from the hunter and resumed walking.

Together they moved down the street in silence until they turned around a corner and Chiara suddenly stopped while she blinked a couple of times.

"That's... That's a supermarket over there! That means there is food!", exclaimed the little girl with an excited voice before she started running.

Shark immediately followed his little girl while he looked at the building in question. He didn't really understand what was so special about that building. But when it could help lift the mood of his pup then he would just go along with it.

As they arrived at the building they stepped through the already destroyed door and entered the building. His little girl laughed happily as she spotted something to her liking and ran up to some shelves.

Shark looked somewhat warily around him while he sniffed the air. To his relief he couldn't smell any infected in the building so that he catched up to his pup and sat down right next to her on his haunches. He watched his little girl how she stretched and tried to grab something from the shelves. But no matter how much she stretched she couldn't reach what she wanted.

Curiously the hunter regarded the things more up closely only to recognize the many metal things as cans. What were these cans good for again?

"Shark? Can you get them?" The voice of his pup catched his attention so that he swiftly looked down at her. The little girl pointed at first at him, then at the cans and finally she made some movements with her hands like she wanted to grab the cans and put them on the ground.

Shark nodded slightly before he reached up and pushed the many cans from the shelves so that they fell loudly on the ground.

His little girl smiled happily as she grabbed some of the cans and regarded them closely.

"Lots of fruits. There is some meat too... That would be something for you, Shark. Oh, that's beans, I think." Chiara licked her lips as she looked at all the small pictures on the cans before she frowned slightly and looked briefly around.

"How do I open it?", she asked herself while Shark just cocked his head in confusion. What was the matter now? And what did she want with these cans anyway?

He was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard a rough cough even though it seemed like it was far away from their location. He strained his ears nonetheless and listened to the noises outside. There it was again. Coughing from a smoker. He was just about to focus his attention on his pup again as suddenly a low growl joined the coughing of the smoker. That was definitely a growl of a hunter even though he was sure that it didn't belong to Scarface. The bigger hunter's growls sounded different. Was it a hunter of Scarface's pack or an entirely other hunter?

Whoever it was he had no right to be here in his hunting grounds!

A choked scream that was abruptly cut off and followed by a quiet snarl catched his full attention again. Wait... Had the hunter just killed the smoker? At least it sounded like that was the case.

Shark was pulled out of his musings once again as a small hand suddenly grabbed his index finger and pulled on it. He quickly looked at his pup who pulled his index finger towards one of the cans on the ground. He cocked one of his eyebrows questioningly but decided to wait to see what the little girl was up to.

Chiara pressed his finger with the claw against the lid of the can before she dragged the appendage along the edges of the can with a look of pure concentration on her face. Shark just cocked his head anew as he could see and feel how his claw tore through the thin metal. He was still confused about all this until a weird smell reached his nose. He needed some seconds to realize that the scent came from the now open can.

His pup released his finger from her grip as the can was open and happily plunged her hand in the sticky stuff in the can. With a happy squeal she took some of the yellowish things and stuffed them in her mouth.

Oh, now he got it. The food was in the cans, so you had to open them somehow. Shark nodded slightly to himself before he watched his little girl eat. He couldn't help himself but to smile at the sight of a happy little girl that ate enthusiastically her food and got herself all dirty with the sticky stuff.

Chiara finished the contents of the can in record time whereupon she licked her lips and fingers clean – even though they were still somewhat sticky afterwards.

"That was yummy." Even though Shark didn't understand a word he could hear that his little girl was content and that was all that mattered.

His pup stood up slowly before she looked around her and started to walk along the different shelves. What was she looking for?

"Chrrraa?", Shark called his pup's name as he crawled after her only to find her standing in front of another shelve. But other than the shelves before he couldn't spot any cans on this one. Instead there were three weird things which he often had seen on the backs of the prey.

"Shark! Get it for me!", demanded the little girl while she pointed meaningfully at the three objects. The hunter obediently reached up and grabbed one of the objects whereupon he stared at it in the attempt to figure out what it was.

"That's a backpack." He looked up from the object in his hands to look at his little girl instead who pointed at the thing in his hands.

"Backpack.", she said very slowly while she still pointed at the object. So, that thing was called a backpack. Even though he now had a definition for it he still didn't know for what it was any good.

"Wwaachaaack.", he grumbled halfheartedly before Chiara took the backpack from his hands with a amused grin on her lips. She hurriedly ran past him and back to the cans on the floor.

Shark followed her once again and sat down beside her on his haunches. He watched how his pup grabbed the cans and stuffed them into the backpack whereupon he also finally understood for what the backpack was used. At least he thought that he got it.

After she got all the cans in that would fit in she closed the backpack and pulled it on her back. But as she tried to walk she promptly lost her balance and fell back on the floor.

"It's too heavy.. and the straps are too big.", whined the little girl with a big pout before she looked between the backpack and the hunter back and forth. It seemed like she got an idea.

"You can carry it!" Chiara turned with a grin on her lips to Shark who just looked confused at her. He had no idea what she wanted from him.

His pup's face fell somewhat as she didn't get the reaction she probably had wanted from him before she furrowed her brow. Shark stared at his pup for some seconds but quickly had enough. They should be going already. It wasn't entirely safe in here or out there. They could come back here tomorrow when his pup would be hungry again.

Without any warning he bit down on Chiara's hoodie and lifted her from the ground whereupon the little girl squealed out of surprise. Shark quickly sniffed the air to make sure that there were no brethren of his anywhere near. He could smell some of them but they weren't near the building.

Satisfied he crawled to the destroyed door of the supermarket as his little girl started to struggle.

"Wait! We can't leave the food!" Shark just ignored her shout as he crawled out on the street and briefly looked around him before he jumped on a rooftop of a small house nearby. As he landed he promptly tumbled to the ground while he hissed in pain. Shit, he totally forgot about his ribs.

"Shark?! What's wrong?", asked his pup worried who tried to look at him but failed due to her limited freedom of movement.

Shark was just about to purr reassuringly at his little girl as he heard the same low growl from before. It sounded nearer this time. He couldn't fight another hunter in his state.

Gritting his teeth he slowly propped himself up before he leaped to another rooftop and then to the next. Through all of it he desperately tried to ignore the pain and pushed his body to its limit. He had to get his pup to the safety of their nest.

He held the short way out even though he instantly collapsed as he barely climbed through the window and into the apartment. He panted hard while a quiet whimper escaped him. He just needed some good sleep and then anything would be better.

"Shark? Shark! What's wrong? Are you hurt? Shark?!" Panting the hunter looked up at his frantic pup who seemed more than just worried about him.

A strained growl left his lips as he tried to prop himself up again. He even succeeded whereupon he grabbed his little girl and carried her in one arm in the bedroom where the nest was located. He quickly jumped on the bed and lay down on the nest with his pup.

He briefly looked out of the big window out of the corner of his eye only to notice that it was slowly getting dark outside. That definitely had been an eventful day.

He purred lowly to comfort his little girl while he closed his one remaining eye and relaxed. He could feel how his pup snuggled up to him before he slowly but surely drifted off to sleep.

He just hoped that tomorrow everything would be mostly healed.


	6. Chasing the unknown

_Hey everyone! :D_

_And here is chapter 6. I know that it took some time, but like I already said, I have school and this school year is very stressful. Besides all the tests I also have to prepare three big presentations with documentations. So you don't have to ask for an update all the time (*squinting at all the guest reviews*). But I'm happy to see that you like my story that much that you want so badly an update X'D _

_Well, anyway. I hope you all will enjoy the chapter. Have fun reading it ;D_

_Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are_

* * *

**Chapter 6_Chasing the unknown**

It was the next morning as Chiara woke up from her fitful sleep. The first thing that she noticed was that it was comfortably warm before she realized that the warmth came from Shark who was pressed up against her.

With a quiet yawn the little girl looked up only to see the still sleeping face of the hunter. Odd, she would have bet that he was already awake. She at least had gotten the impression that all the bad people didn't have to sleep much – if at all.

But Chiara couldn't help herself but to smile softly as she regarded Shark's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful and fully relaxed, unlike yesterday. That reminded her of something...

Shark had been hurt! She instantly became worried again as she hurriedly sat up and regarded the sleeping hunter more closely. But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't spot any injuries beside the four scratches on the small hunter's cheek – and even those were mostly healed by now.

But he really seemed to be in pain the day before – even though the little girl didn't know why. She knew only one thing. The pain Shark had been in couldn't have been caused from these scratches, so it had to be something else.

She pondered on it for some seconds longer before she sighed quietly and gave up. She just hoped that he wouldn't be in any pain anymore when he woke up.

With that in mind the five year old turned her head so she could look to the big window in the room. The dawn was starting with the first sunbeams.

Chiara stayed in bed for a while longer until she got bored and was fed up with resting and not moving for a period of time. Shark wasn't awake yet and it didn't seem like that would be the case in the near future.

After she looked briefly at the hunter, to confirm that he was indeed still asleep, she slowly shifted out of his tight embrace and crawled quietly to the edge of the huge bed.

She immediately stopped in her tracks as Shark grumbled loudly before he curled up with a quiet growl. She waited some seconds longer but no more sounds could be heard from the hunter, so that she proceeded and finally climbed down from the bed.

Chiara swiftly walked out of the bedroom and in the living room while she reached up and pulled the blue hood from her head. She really couldn't understand why it was so important for Shark that she wore that thing over her head. But she didn't dare to go against an angry hunter – and Shark had been angry as she had refused to wear the hood.

With a quiet sigh the little girl reached up again and tightened her pigtails clumsily before she spotted something on the floor. She faltered slightly – unsure what this meant.

Just in the middle of the living room stood a backpack – the backpack full with food that they had left behind in the supermarket.

The little girl downright pounced on the backpack before she clumsily ripped it open and could only stare in disbelieve at all the cans in it. She furrowed her brow as she cocked her head out of bewilderment.

Why was the backpack here? And how did it get here in the first place? Did Shark go back to the supermarket and brought it back? Very unlikely, but she couldn't come up with another explanation. No one else than the small hunter could have done it. He knew where the backpack had been but on the other hand Chiara doubted that the hunter would have done this with the pain he had been in.

A quiet noise from behind her startled her whereupon she spun around, only to come face to face with her companion, who seemed to be awake by now. She hadn't even heard him until he was standing right behind her.

"Don't do that. You scared me, Shark.", mumbled the little girl while she took a deep breath.

But the hunter didn't pay her any attention, instead he stared at the backpack before he let an uneasy growl slip. His remaining eye roamed the room wildly before he sidestepped the little girl to bent down and to sniff at the backpack. He seemed to get more and more agitated the longer he smelled the backpack.

Chiara cocked her head anew while she observed the small hunter's actions. Judging by his reaction he really wasn't the one who brought the backpack back.

But who could have done it then?

She was pulled out of her thoughts as Shark started to growl and slowly crawled to the window through that they had left and entered the apartment. As she saw how he crouched down and prepared himself for a jump the little girl acted without thinking.

She swiftly ran up to him whereupon she grabbed his arm and clung tightly to it.

"Wait! Don't go. At least not without me!" Even though she knew that the hunter couldn't understand her, she wasn't able to stop talking to him. When she would stop talking then who would be left to do it? Besides she never had been a big fan of long lasting silence.

Shark looked at her before he snarled quietly out of irritation, but didn't try to wrench her off his arm nonetheless. The little girl took this for a good sign.

"What's wrong? Who got the backpack?", she asked her companion who seemed to have understood and recognized at least one of the words as he looked back at the backpack and slightly shook his head for an answer.

"You don't know...?", guessed the little girl before she sighed loudly and hesitantly released Shark's arm from her tight grip.

"Come on, let us eat something first before we go and look for the person.", suggested Chiara while she pointed at the backpack with the cans in it.

As Shark just cocked his head out of confusion she stepped up to the backpack with a wry smile on her lips. She grabbed one of the cans before she showed it to Shark and pointed meaningfully at the lid of the can.

It seemed like the hunter remembered the day before as he slowly took the can from her hands and opened it with one of his claws – just like she had done it with his index finger at the supermarket. After it was open all the way he gave the can back whereupon the little girl grabbed it with a proud as well as a happy smile.

In the can was pinkish stuff – some fruits she couldn't remember the definition of.

"Thank you Shark. Oh, that would be for you." Smiling she pulled another can out of the backpack and gave it to the hunter who also opened this one without any questions. She could see how he faltered as he saw and probably smelled the contents of the can.

"That's meat. You can eat it. It's for you.", offered the little girl warmly while she pointed at first at the meat in the can and then at Shark. As the hunter gave her an unsure look she just smiled back reassuringly before she stuffed one piece of fruit from her own can in her mouth and chewed happily on it. It tasted really sweet.

Shark seemed to hesitate for some seconds longer before he at last grabbed clumsily some of the meat and crammed it in his mouth. The surprised as well as delighted moan that followed brought the little girl to laugh.

"I'm happy to see that you like it.", said Chiara happily while she watched how the hunter devoured the small portion of the meat like he was starving. She rather watched him eating the meat out of the can than the flesh of some animal or some other creature. The mere thought of the dead deer made her sick.

She hurriedly shook her head in an attempt to shoo these thoughts away before she concentrated on the contents of her own can which she quickly ate. As she was finished with eating she looked up at Shark who looked at her with a frown – or to be more specific at her head that was missing a hood on top of it.

"What?!", snapped the little girl who already knew what the problem was. But instead of replying anything Shark just snorted awkwardly and turned around to crawl in the direction of the glassless window again.

"Hey, wait! I want to go with you!", exclaimed Chiara as she clung to Shark's arm a second time this morning.

The hunter looked down at her whereupon he shook his arm in an attempt to get her to let go. As that proved itself useless he started to growl in an impatient fashion and grabbed the little girl to pull her off his arm. But this also ended in failure. Chiara wouldn't let go until Shark would take her with him. She wasn't a pigheaded fellow for nothing.

Her own pleading face promptly transformed into a big satisfied grin as Shark's loud defeated sigh reached her ears, so that she finally let go of his arm and petted him swiftly on the cheek. She didn't even make a fuss as Shark grabbed her hood and pulled the blue material over her head. If she had to wear the hood in order to be allowed to go outside with Shark then so be it.

Knowing what would come next she swiftly turned around on her own and waited for Shark to bite down on her hoodie. The way the hunter carried her around still reminded her of an overgrown cat that carried its baby kitty around. Even though it felt somewhat awkward to dangle like that from her hoodie she still thought that it was kinda cute.

The little girl was pulled out of her thoughts as Shark lifted her from the floor and swiftly climbed through the window and from there up on to the roof. She could practically imagine how his nostrils flared as he smelled the air around them with a deep breath.

It took some seconds but Shark eventually sniffed the scent out that he probably had smelled on the backpack. This time around Chiara didn't squeal out of delight as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop – even though she couldn't suppress the happy smile that was quickly plastered on her face.

She was still wondering how the backpack had gotten in the living room and who had done it. But no matter how long she pondered on it she couldn't come up with a satisfying answer, so that she sighed deeply and just decided that she would have to wait and see.

The five year old squealed out of surprise as the hunter suddenly turned sharply left before he dropped some meters, only to jump on a higher building up again and then to sprint over the rooftops. Through the whole stunt – or should she rather call it a race?! – the little girl clutched her own hoodie tightly – out of fright that she would by any chance slip through her hoodie, which was somewhat too big for her.

Just as she was about to tell Shark to slow down the small hunter stopped on his own and sharply turned his head in a specific direction. Chiara needed some seconds to realize at what exactly he was looking.

A run-down looking house – the exact same run-down looking house in that Shark had found her in a closet and in that her mummy and daddy had left her.

"What are we doing here, Shark?", asked the little girl weakly who had to bear down the tears that threatened to spill out of her glossy eyes. She didn't want to be reminded of the fact that her mummy and daddy wouldn't come back for her anymore.

But the hunter ignored her words while he jumped from the roof and landed safely in front of the entrance of the run-down looking house. He slowly crawled into the house whereupon he bent down and released her hoodie from his teeth so he could move around more freely.

Chiara looked up at the hunter who stuck his nose in the air and started to sniff wildly until he seemed to have located his target. He quickly grabbed the little girl and shoved her in a small storeroom. She was about to protest about that as Shark just grabbed the door and slammed the door shut – cutting her off in the process.

"Hey!", exclaimed she indignantly before she crossed her arms with an angry huff. What was that all about now?! Grumbling lowly to herself she faltered as she spotted that the door wasn't really closed. It seemed like Shark hadn't slammed the door hard enough in his haste to go after the unknown person, so that he left the door unintentionally ajar.

Even though she wanted to leave this storeroom she hesitated to do just that. Shark wouldn't have put her in here without any good reasons. And out there could be more of the bad people who would hurt her very bad.

She bit her bottom lip while she contemplated what to do. Should she wait here for Shark or should she just take the risk and go after the small hunter? She didn't want to be left alone again. She just couldn't shake the bad feeling off that Shark might not be coming back for her – just like her parents didn't.

The decision was taken from her as loud giggling and laughter reached her ears and catched her attention.

Chiara furrowed her brow while she listened closely, in hopes to hear it again. She couldn't just have imagined that noise. The anew laughter that sounded much nearer this time confirmed that.

But who was laughing? Could the bad people even laugh? Chiara couldn't remember that she had ever heard an infected laughing. So, did this mean that it wasn't someone of the bad people but a survivor?

The little girl swiftly looked out between the open crack but couldn't spot anything with such a limited view. She still hesitated for some seconds but finally her continuously growing curiosity couldn't be ignored anymore.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open and stepped in the room whereupon she looked around her, but couldn't spot anything special.

While she fumbled nervously with the end of one of the sleeves of her hoodie she slowly walked across the big room until she reached the wide hallway with the staircase that lead to the first floor. She couldn't really remember that this run-down looking house was that big.

A sudden thud that sounded from the floor above startled the little girl who flinched violently and hurriedly looked up the stairs. Shortly after the sounds of growling and snarling also reached her ears. That definitely sounded like a hunter – even though she wasn't too sure if it really was just one hunter who made all that noise.

"Shark?!" Unsure what she should do Chiara called her companion with a shaky voice but instead of a growl or something similar an insane sounding laughter answered her call. The little girl instantly grew stiff as she quickly realized that this sound came from behind her and not from the floor above her.

Before she was able to turn around a heavy force collided with her, so that she tumbled to the floor with a shocked yelp. Panicked she hurriedly propped herself up on all fours but faltered as she was about to stand up fully on both her legs. She promptly was scared stiff as she came face to face with some crippled monkey-looking thing, whose face was just some inches from hers.

What was that thing? She just knew that it looked really ugly and that he – she just noticed now that it was male – had to be the one who just shoved her to the floor – what had been somewhat painful.

The at first frowning then confused face of the monkey-looking man unsettled the little girl who just became confused herself. She thought that that thing wanted to hurt her just like all the other bad people and now it was just staring at her, apparently not sure what he should think about her.

Swallowing hard she slowly scooted back on all fours to get more room between herself and the monkey – not daring to stand up just yet.

It was then that the monkey seemed to have made up his mind as he started to laugh like a maniac while he bounced up and down before he started to jump around her in circles. This behavior didn't help to cease Chiara's confusion – on the contrary, she just got more confused about all of this.

She watched the actions of the monkey with a wary eye while she unintentionally sat back on her haunches – just like Shark always did it. But this little change in posture seemed to be enough to encourage the monkey-looking man further who instantly giggled insanely and without any warning grabbed the tiny shoulders of the little girl with his too big hands.

Chiara promptly flinched back while she tried to oppress the terror that threatened to overtake her.

"Let go!", demanded the little girl with a shaky voice whereupon the monkey frowned deeply and jerkily grabbed her hood to pull it clumsily off her head.

He barely saw her face as he shouted out of wonder but quickly started to laugh like a maniac again. His hands twitched a couple of times as they tightened their grip on her shoulders painfully before he jumped slightly up and shifted his weight towards her so that she barely could keep standing.

"No! Go away!", shouted the little girl panicked as the disfigured face of the monkey rushed towards her own while her legs gave in under the combined weight on the same time.

She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to look death in the face, as a sudden ear-battering shriek reached her ears and the monkey's weight suddenly disappeared from on top of her. Surprised and relieved about the fact that Shark came to her rescue Chiara opened her eyes again, only to see someone else crouching beside her lying form.

She could just stare in bewilderment at her savior who snarled out of fury and slashed violently at the monkey-looking man who let a startled yelp sound and jumped swiftly back to evade the sharp claws.

Who was that? And what was he? At first glance she would have guessed that her savior was a hunter but one missing article of clothing threw her for a loop. Weren't hunters supposed to wear hoodies?

Her savior wore a dark brown t-shirt, dark blue pants, he was barefoot and on his head he wore a baseball cap with a camouflage design in dark gray shades – and even though it was pulled deep down above his face it still did a poor job of protecting his eyes from the light, if the action of squinting his eyes was anything to go by. And she just noticed now that this hunter still had both of his eyes, even though she couldn't make out the eye colour. Instead she thought that she detected some brown short hair that stuck out at some spots from under the baseball cap.

She didn't know why but her savior looked very familiar to her, even though she just couldn't remember of who he reminded her of.

But before she could have pondered on it a while longer a second furious snarl – that didn't come from her savior – pulled her out of her thoughts. She quickly looked up whereupon she spotted an angry Shark on top of the staircase.

As the monkey spotted Shark as well he hurriedly fled the scene. That thing probably realized that it was outmatched and didn't stand a chance against two hunters.

Chiara groggily sat up and sighed deeply while she looked between the two hunters back and forth until her gaze stayed on her savior who was also staring at her from under his baseball cap so that his face was cloaked in shadows.

The hunter whined loudly as he reached out to her, but quickly spun around in the direction of Shark who growled warningly at the other hunter. The little girl could have sworn that she saw in this fleeting moment as the hunter reached out for her a guilty as well as longing expression on his face. But why? What was it with this weird hunter?

The little girl was pulled out of her thoughts once again as Shark pounced on the other hunter who swiftly dodged with a jump backwards. With a last growl that was directed at Shark and a fleeting look at the little girl he spun around and leaped through the entrance of the run-down looking house.

As Chiara saw how Shark tensed up in order to leap after the other hunter she quickly propped herself up and clung to one of his arms.

"Dont! Let him go! Stay with me...", pleaded the little girl while she clutched Shark's arm only tighter and pressed her face against the appendage. She didn't want to be left behind. Besides that weird hunter saved her, so the least they could do was to not follow him and let him be. Even though she still asked herself why he looked so familiar to her?

Shark growled out of irritation as he shook his arm but quickly gave up and instead pulled her hood over her head again and bent down to bite down on her hoodie whereupon the little girl hesitantly let go of his arm.

The small hunter carried her outside through the entrance of the run-down looking house only to stop in his tracks and to stare at something.

"What is it?" Confused the five year old followed Shark's line of sight only to spot in the distance on a rooftop a small figure. Was that the weird hunter? It seemed like it. But he was only watching her and Shark and didn't make a move to come near or to go away. That hunter was really strange in Chiara's opinion.

"Shark?", unsure she hesitantly called the hunter's name as after some seconds nothing was happening. It seemed like her voice snapped him out of his trance as he purred lowly at her and slightly shook his head.

Some more seconds passed before Shark finally moved again. He crouched down to jump on one of the roofs of the nearby standing houses. As he leaped in the direction of the other hunter her savior sprung up on all fours and quickly leaped away, out of their sight. Chiara could hear how Shark snorted confidently about the other hunter's retreat before he purred happily.

The little girl couldn't help herself but to wonder if she would see the weird hunter again. She would be telling a lie if she would say that she wasn't curios about her savior.

Who was he?

* * *

_Aaaaand? Can someone guess who this new hunter is? :'D_

_No? Good X'D_


End file.
